Regarding Donations.

Hi everyone!
I have been asked by a fellow Cricketeer what the process is for donating to the club to help out with expenses, and realize that it’s time to do a little organizing in that area.

Here’s what I have in mind. Cricket’s Club, to me, is an open invitation to everyone in the family to participate and enjoy, without obligations or expectations- I want the fund to reflect that structure and goodwill. A primary goal is to distribute the work among many people so that with each doing a little, something big and beautiful can be made by all. This can be applied to the expenses too- lots of people giving a little makes it happen and keeps anyone from being overburdened.

There are some who would like to participate but don’t have the time, or are enthusiastic about what we’re doing but not really interested in doing the actual crafting themselves. Donations of materials or funds to buy them would be a wonderful alternative way to support what Cricket’s Club is doing- and would be very gratefully received. I have really, really appreciated the generous donations of not just time and work, but materials that CC has received already.

If you are going to be participating in a project, a primary way to donate is to simply purchase the items you’ll need, but that’s not always feasible and certainly not required. Please don’t let that stop you from participating! Contact me, and we will happily get materials to you.

Which is where donations come in:

What to donate:

• Materials for projects. Take a look at the blog instructions for current projects to see exactly what we are using (for example, a purchase coming up for us is red and blue fabric for Alan's quilt), or send stuff for future projects. A list below details what we have been using with good results so far. We go through a lot of yarn! Please keep in mind- materials need not be new! Do you have a yarn stash somewhere that’s been sitting on a garage shelf for 10 years? Any soft 100% acrylic or other machine washable yarn, in worsted or bulky weight, would be awesome- color doesn’t matter, we like variety. Fabric that you probably won’t use? Supplies from past craft projects that you won’t be using again but that you think would make a neat project for us to do? Send it on over!
• Gift Cards to Joann’s or Michael’s. These can be used to buy most things we need- a great idea!
• Postage. Stamps are great, we can use them to not only mail materials out, but include self-addressed stamped envelopes to make it easier for stuff to be mailed back to us. And final projects that need to be mailed out will be a bit bulky and heavy.
• Money. This will be used to buy the things you see listed here. Mary in Selah will be the treasurer with her mad bookkeeping skills. Whatever amount of money floats your boat is simply lovely- you can see below most individual materials are inexpensive, but they do add up a bit to complete the final item, primarily yarn and fabric. A few dollars will help with postage, $10 will buy 3-4 skeins of yarn, an entire project costs approximately $60-70 to complete. Make checks payable to Mary or Valerie, please, as CC doesn’t have a bank account. Does anyone have a “piggy” bank in the shape of a cricket? ;)

Here is a rough accounting of what our expenses are:

• Yarn example: Vanna’s Choice yarn, $3.00 a skein (Approx. 16-20 skeins for one afghan)
• Knitting Needles: $7.00 a pair
• Crochet Hooks: $5.00 each
• Fabric: $7.00 a yard (approx 8 yards per quilt for backing, sashing and blocks, not counting the muslin blocks which we already have)
• Quilt Batting: $10 a package, 5 yards/1 pkg per quilt
• Crayola Crayons: $2.50 a small box
• Fabric Markers: $2.50
• Freezer paper: $4.00 a box (1-2 per quilt)
• Fabric treatment for photo blocks: $15 a bottle (enough for a couple quilts).
• Postage for mailing materials back and forth, and finished works to recipients
• Packaging materials (envelopes to mail quilt or afghan squares, larger packaging to mail finished projects)
• Gift wrapping materials

Where to send donations: To Mary in Selah. I am making my Mom the treasurer, because she has lots of room to store supplies, and she is centrally located for gathering to work on projects. So please send all donations to her in Selah- contact her or me for her address if you don’t have it handy. She’s officially opening the “Cricket Club Fund” today, in fact, with a book of stamps.

Please contact Val with any questions about current needs or what to donate. Again, any donations are greatly appreciated- Thank you!!